This is a fabulously warming winter dish that will be absolutely perfect for cold nights. It is also chock full of vegetables and is really quite healthy, even if you think it isn’t! Try it with a big steaming bowl of dauphinoise potatoes. Make them by part-boiling some potatoes, and then thinly slicing them. Thinly slice some onions. Put a layer of these potatoes in the bottom of an oven-proof dish.

Season well then add a layer of onions and a big generous dash of single cream. Continue layering until you’ve ran out of potatoes and onions, pour a bit more cream on top and grate a bit of cheddar cheese over. Bake this in the oven at 190C for 45 minutes for a delicious creamy potato dish.

Preparation time: 10 minutesCooking time: 1 hour

Ingredients

450g parsnips

300g carrots

250g leeks

225g baby onions or shallots

1 big jointed chicken

600ml chicken stock

10 sage leaves

3 or 4 big sprigs of thyme

Pinch of salt

1 tbsp. butter

1 tbsp. flour

4 tbsp. double cream

Method

Slice the leeks into healthy chunks. Chop the parsnips into bite-sized pieces, as the carrots. Cut them according to your taste and how you like them, as long as they are equal-sized pieces.

Heat a bit of oil in a large casserole pan. Season the chicken well and fry in the oil until browned. Pop this to one side for the meantime.

Fry the onions in the chicken bits and oil until browned but not burnt. Add the chicken back into the dish, add the herbs, and add the parsnips and leeks over the top. Pour the stock over and simmer for half an hour.

After this time, take the chicken and vegetables out of this and set aside. Cook out the liquid for ten minutes and it will be reduced and a little thicker. Mix the butter and flour together in a dish and then whisk it into the chicken liquid. Simmer it for a few minutes until thickened. Add in the cream, chop a couple of sage leaves spare and sprinkle this in too. Stick a bit more seasoning in if necessary.

Add the chicken and veg back in and heat for a bit longer if it has gone cold. Sprinkle a bit of extra chopped sage on top for decoration if serving in the middle of the table.